In the Fall, Varsity cheerleaders will cheer every home and away Varsity football game. If the team makes playoffs, they will cheer these games too as long as the team keeps winning. JV cheerleaders will generally cheer every home JV football game.

In the Winter, both Varsity & JV cheerleaders will cheer boys and girls basketball as well as wrestling. The number of games/matches depends on the schedule and whether or not the teams make playoffs. The events are divided among the cheerleaders so each cheerleader does not have to cheer every game/match.

Our entire cheer program is self-funded, and our parent-led Booster Club does a wonderful job of raising most of the funds to cover the costs associated with Sports Cheer. However, depending on our year-to-year budget, costs for clothing & equipment and cheer camp still tend to be $500-600 per cheerleader throughout the May to March season.

For Competition Cheer, which includes the Nationals trip to Florida, parents can expect to spend an additional $600 (for a total of $1,100-1,200) throughout the season. Of course all costs are subjective and depend on each year’s budget as well as our overall success at fundraising.

The cheerleading season is technically about 10 months long, although the bulk of the activity is during the Fall & Winter months. Tryouts generally happen during the last week of April, practice is generally 1-2 times each week from May through January. Football cheer begins in late August and lasts through November. Basketball & Wrestling cheer happens December through January. Competition cheer season gets started in November and culminates with Nationals in February. Our end-of-season Cheer Banquet is generally in early March.

Competition Cheerleading

The number of competitions vary from year-to-year, but you can expect 6-8 competitions. This includes a number of local competitions, Districts, States, and Nationals in Florida if we qualify. All competitions are local (within a couple hours) except, of course, Nationals.

Partially. The $600 assessment for competition families represents the difference between our budgeted program costs and revenues. The Nationals trip is a large part of our program cost, so in that sense it is certainly a portion of it. However, there isn’t a one-to-one relationship. Per-cheerleader Nationals costs are closer to $1,000. The difference is covered via competition cheer fundraising.

Nationals in Florida

No. All teams must qualify in their category for a bid to Nationals. For the 2016-17 season, we are planning to qualify at the competition at Kutztown University on Dec 4th. We will not know FOR SURE whether we can compete at Nationals until we are done competing at Kutztown.

Yes. If we qualify for the event, all cheerleaders who accept the invitation to join our competition team must participate in the National High School Cheerleading Championships held each February in Orlando, Florida. The cost of airfare, lodging, and registration for the event are all included as part of your competition assessment which was outlined at the organizational meeting back in April, and officially agreed to with the payment of your Competition Commitment Fee in September.

This is a school-authorized trip for a sporting event and three (3) school days are excused – no action is required by parents. These days are Thursday, Friday, and Monday, which is the length of the regular trip.

HOWEVER, if you are extending your stay after the event, you must follow the school’s typical protocol for securing an excused absence from school for these additional days.

Honestly, probably not too much. While you will certainly see them compete at Nationals, the cheerleaders do spend a lot of time at dinners, breakfasts, many practices, hanging out with each other, and of course at the event. While the practices are open, don’t be surprised if you don’t actually see a lot of your cheerleader, or they’d rather hang with their friends than with you (my experience!)

No. All cheerleaders travel down together as a team. Parents will drop off cheerleaders at the cheer garage the morning of departure, and the coaches take it from there. The Booster Club will arrange for transportation from the cheer garage to BWI and back again.

Yes. You can make arrangements with Coach Faith for your cheerleader to be ‘released’ to your care on Monday in Florida. It would then be your responsibility to secure a return airline ticket for your cheerleader based on whatever your plans are. An example of where this situation may occur is when a family attends their cheerleader’s competition and then extends the trip into a vacation after the competition. This is not uncommon for senior families to do, and it is the reason Coach Faith needs the travel form back so she can obtain an accurate count of the number of airline tickets the Club needs to reserve.

Likely, but make advanced reservations at your own risk. As soon as Coach Faith reserves our seats on the flights down and back, I will email the flight info out to the parents. Parents may then make their own arrangements for themselves and their families. BEWARE: We won’t actually know if we’ve qualified to go to Nationals until after qualifiers in early December, so if you make non-refundable reservations before that date and we do not qualify, you may lose that money.

Unfortunately, no. The Booster Club has chartered a bus for transportation of cheerleaders to/from the airport. Also, by riding together, all cheerleaders remain together which makes it much easier for the coaches to track, organize, and safely chaperone your children.

No. Cheerleaders room together at one of the Disney resort hotels. It is a team bonding experience and, in addition to competing in the competition, the team spends a lot of time together for the event, practice, meals, parks, and fun! Parents are encouraged to make the trip to support their cheerleader, but should make separate lodging arrangements. Parents are welcome to attend all practices. Don’t be disappointed, though – the kids are very busy and may not make a lot of ‘parent time’!

All cheerleaders will have a team dinner one evening, and all seniors will have a senior dinner another evening – these are covered by the Booster Club. The UCA package for each cheerleader includes one (1) meal voucher as well. All other meals and snacks are the responsibility of the cheerleader, so parents should provide some spending money. The amount of money to provide is a personal decision. A cheerleader should NEED no more than $100-150 for meals, but if they want sweatshirts, hoodies, t-shirts, and keepsakes, it can easily be $200-300. Have this conversation with your cheerleader. Later this season, more information will be shared regarding how you can send groceries right to their room as well.

It is held at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex – about a 10-minute ride from the All Star hotels. It is a custom-built sports complex created to handle all types of sporting competitions and events. It is a standalone location and is not located in one of the four main Disney parks. Also, you will need to pay daily admission to enter the complex (cheerleaders are covered with their package). If you book a room through the UCA package, admission has been included in the past. Also, if you book your stay through Disneyworld and buy park tickets, the Park Hooper, Water Park, & More” option includes admission. If you don’t have any of these, the daily cost has been $25/pp.

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Sponsorships from people like YOU help supply our program with crucial funding for equipment, camps, uniforms, supplies, cheer clinics, qualifiers, and other cheer expenses throughout the year. Last year we raised almost $8,000 from Individual & Business Sponsors. Your Central Dauphin Cheerleaders are grateful for any support you can provide, no matter the size.